Assault

"Hey, you watched the games last night? The Super Bowl CCXIX concluded with a New York Giants victory over the Beijing Dragons. The score was 32 to 18! The Beijing Dragons got their asses sent back all the way to China!"

"Man you know I don't keep up with Earth news anymore. I haven't seen a game of football in years now."

"Your no fun! I know! Why don't we the next time we leave the station head to omega and get some drinks in Afterlife while we're at it!? I know you've been looking at a particular Asari hostess lately! I didn't even know you had a thing for blue chicks!"

"First of all, I don't, and second of all can't you for once focus on the job instead of trying to get laid!? I swear how did you even pass recruitment?"

"Hey! you're just jealous that I get more alien pussy on my dick than you'll ever get from any Asari! Instead of ridiculing a friend who's trying to get you laid, why don't you actually take some of my advice for once!?"

In one of the many hallways of the facility, were a pair of Cerberus guard units patrolling their regular routes throughout the facility. They have known each other for a long time so they were freely speaking to each other as long-lasting friends.

One of the guards looked through his Omni-tool. Making sure that there were on the right route "It seems we made it to our destination"

He looked up to see a massive double-sided door that was completely locked up. It was specifically made to contain an individual. Making sure that no matter what they tried, they couldn't get out

It was the chamber of subject 1183. The only successful clone of a long line of failures.

"Subject 1183… isn't he the result of project evolution? I thought they discontinued the project after what happened to Doctor Everstean?" The other guard said as he hint of surprise in his eyes. Even though you couldn't see it.

The guard shook his head in denial "I heard rumors about that actually. Apparently, after the incident, they decided to continue with the project. Replacing Doctor Everstean as the lead director with somebody else. I don't know about Everstean though. He just instantly vanished out of thin air. I think they killed the old guy"

"Poor dude. After years of service and dedication, they replace him with somebody new. But I guess that happens when you try to go back as he did"

The guard shook his head once again as he typed something inside of his Omni-tool. Soon, the sound of hydraulics could be heard as the door slowly opened. Only to reveal…

Nothing. Abouslitly nothing. A room that was completely devoid of life.

"Uhhh…we got the right room. Right?" The other guard committed as looked inside of the room shock struck.

The guard didn't respond to his friend as he pressed another button on his Omni-tool "Bosss….:

"We got a problem…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GAHH!" A guard yelled in anguish as he took his final breath as he fell onto the ground. Blood poured down from his helmet as a slug penetrated his head. Leaving a big hole right in the center of the poor man's face.

[An Enemy Has Been Killed!]

[User Has Been Awarded: 50 XP, 100 credits]

1183 stepped over the man's head as he continued walking towards Medical bay. Each step making him slightly closer towards his destination and the old data core. This was the third group that he had encountered as he made his way. each group containing at least 5 individuals rushing his way to stop him. He turned around to see look at his handiwork only to see the ground splattered in blood as multiple Cerberus guard platoons laid down face first. Some bodies were completely blown to tiny pits of species due to the overwhelming power of Singularity combined with push. which resulted in many Cerberus goons dying in an instant.

Maybe it was due to the effects of all the VR training he underwent or maybe it was his mental cognitive realizing the truth of the situation but he came to realize that seeing such a gruesome sight didn't really bother him anymore. He came to understand that he now belonged to a world where killing was natural as breathing. Death was a natural occurrence and he had to accept that. If he wanted to live to see another day then he would have to kill to get to it.

He looked down unto his left hand as a purplish glow covered the entirety of his arm "Biotics do make life much more easier"

He took one last glance at the dead individuals before focusing on his mission to get to the Medical Wing. Realizing that he would have to face many more challenges as he made his throughout the facility.

As he walked through the corridors, he decided to check how much experience and credits he gained in this short span of conflict.

[Subject 1183]

[Health:400]

[Sheilds:537]

[Experiance:1,750/2000]

[Credits:3,500]

For some reason, an individual Cerberus agent was worth less than a single Aberrant clone. Maybe it was due to how strong the individual is. That was probably the case as he remembered that a single aberrant clone was capable of taking a group of Cerberus agents on their own due to their uncontrollable biotic powers.

He had faced 3 waves of Cerberus groups, each containing 5 Cerberus operatives trying to stop him. If a single agent was worth 50 XP and 100 credits, then a group worth of them was worth 250 XP and 500 credits. and 2 more groups on top of it then he gained a total worth of 750 XP and 1,500 credits. Not bad for a few short skirmishes. He was on the very verge of leveling up once again.

"ALERT! ALERT!"

Out nowhere, the hallway 1183 was standing in was covered in bright red as the repeatedly color flashed. loud warning sounds were on full blast as a feminine voice echoed throughout the corridors.

"ALERT! ALERT!"

"SUBJECT 1183 HAS ESCAPED CONTAINMENT! I REPEAT! SUBJECT 1183 HAS ESCAPED CONTAINMENT!"

"ALL CERBERUS GUARD PERSONNEL ARE ORDERED TO FIND AND DETAIN 1183 BEFORE HE ESCAPES THE EXPERIMENTAL BAY! DO NOT AIM TO KILL! ONLY TO HINDER AND INHIBIT! HE IS TOO MUCH OF AN ASSET TO LOSE!"

"I guess they finally found out. Much later than I expected" 1183 said to himself as he reloaded his Cerberus Harrier. Now that the stealth game was over, he expected to face much more deadly adversaries in greater quantity since everything in the facility was out to get him now. It was essentially him vs an army. Not that it mattered in the end as in reality, this was nothing more than a wave of XP and credits coming to greet him. this would only prove to help him in the long run.

He still had to be careful though. It didn't matter how strong he was at the moment as he could still be overloaded with enemies trying to get him. Quantity over quality would in a battle of attrition in the end. He had to be more cautious from here on out.

Deciding to not waste any more time, 11183 started sprinting down the corridor. Hoping to gain some distance before encountering any resistance.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Location:???)

In the middle of a brightly lit red and blue office, was a man who was simply sitting down and enjoying what appeared to be a glass of whisky. He has close-cropped silver-grey hair and was wearing an open suit that connotes both futuristic style and the "casual finesse of a charming billionaire". His eye implants which made him appear slightly inhuman stared off into a dying red and blue star in front of him. The office was quite spacious and barren. The holographic computer terminals surrounding him only goes to show his connection to a vast web of information.

"Clank, clank, clank"

That's when he heard somebody walking up the pair of stairs right behind him. Recognizing the footsteps, he didn't even try to turn around as he continued to lay back on his chair. Enjoying the small respite he had.

Walking out of the shadow right behind him, was a tall elegant woman. She was wearing what appeared to be a white tight skinsuit. Showing off all the curves at all the right places. Her short black hair rested upon her shoulder as she walked up to the man on the chair while holding a datapad.

The man stretched his hand behind him as he was handed the datapad. Using the finger, he scrolled through the pad, reviewing the information that was on it "Anything to report? Miranda?"

"Unless you want to hear old statements. There's nothing to report this time around. But I do got some intreating news" The woman in white said as she walked up to the glass window. Looking at the dying star.

"Apparently the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy are coming together to build a one-of-a-kind deep space Frigate that is optimized for solo reconnaissance missions deep within unstable regions. Using state-of-the-art stealth technology powered by an experimental drive core"

"They're calling it the SSV Normandy SR-1"

"The project is still in its initial phase as the counsel yet to approve of such thing."

The man was quite intrigued by what he was hearing " I see. Building an advanced ship that is co-designed by Alliance and Hierarchy would show unity. Interesting"

"Ring!"

Out of nowhere, a notification sound was heard coming from one of the many terminals that surrounded the Illusive man.

Swiping through the terminals, he realized that it was an incoming transmission. Coming from one of the facilities that was located in the Hades Nexus. He accepted the transmission and a big hologram screen appeared in front of him.

It showed it was a dark-skinned middle-aged man. His head was nearly bald and his eyes were replaced with dark-lifeless blue cybernetic eyes. He was wearing a simple scientist rob that had a diamond insignia on it.

It was no other than the Director of the barn.

"Director! To what do I owe the pleasure??" The illusive man said as he crossed his legs while taking a sip of his drink.

The Director took a respectful bow before he continued on " Sir, I wanted to personally show you the fruits of our labor. It tools years of work and countless mistakes but we have finally gained results. Sending you the combat data now"

Using his left hand, he opened up a different hologram window and opened up the combat data. Soon a video started to play as it showed an individual fighting a group of soldiers single handily "What exactly is this?"

"This sir is Subject 1183. The latest and the most perfected duplicate of the cloning process. As you can see in the video, this is him facing 4 aberrant clones. genetically flawed clones of 1183 who are powerful enough to take on a group of Cerberus foot soldiers.

"He was genetically designed to be superior to any human ever existed. He is stronger and faster than any Korgan, Asari, and Turian. A specimen of human perfection"

"To further enhance his abilities, he had been exposed deadly amounts of element zero. Granting him powerful biotics abilities."

"In order to shorten the learning curve, we also introduce 1183 to Virtual Reality. The program was developed to help train rookie operators in the ways of combat, stealth, etc. The missions took place in a VR environment, so not only did it guarantee safety, but the programs could be edited to produce almost any situation possible. As a result, the missions ranged from simple combat training to fighting a flying vehicle, and more advanced combat simulations. In a short span of months, he received the training and experience of a veteran soldier"

"So what's the complication?"

"Sir?"

The illusive finished what was left of his drink and leaned forward "I refuse to believe that after all this time that cloning process is perfected. I witnessed firsthand the beginning stages of the process before giving free rein to Dr. Everstean. I know how difficult it is to perfect the process without resulting in more issues. In order to create a clone, samples of genetic code had to be drawn from a subject's cells, duplicated, and implanted into donor cells. Altering the nutrients and catalyst solutions that the cells received could influence the physical attributes and maturation rates of the resulting clone. but growth acceleration often led the clone to be physically deformed and mentally deranged. Resulting in a crash and burn."

"So please excuse me director if I refuse to believe that this clone is "Perfected" when every single clone before him had at least multiple issues. He shares the same genetic information as his predecessors. So what's not to believe that he might share the same mental disability and eventually rebel?"

"Sir I understand the concern but I have to disagree. We have bee.."

"SIR! SIR! we have an issue!" but before the director could finish what he had to say, a guard unit rushed into his office! interrupting the call.

The director turned around, visibly angry that someone is interrupting his call at such a critical moment "WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE TO INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M IN A CALL!?"

"SIR! SUBJECT 1183 HAS ESCAPED CONTAINMENT!"

"1183 HAS DONE WHAT!?"

"Sir you might want to take a look at the video feed. It's not looking good down there"

"I understand. Get a squadron down there and make sure he doesn't escape the facility. If he can't be detained, then you know what to do. We can always make another one"

"Sir, are you saying that.."

"Yes. If he can't be reason with then.."

"Issue the order to kill"

"Yes sir" The guard stood straight and performed a salute before running back and taking the elevator down to lower parts of the station.

He turned around and looked at his superior with an apologetic look " Sir, I do believe I have an issue that needs to be dealt with regarding subject 1183. With your permission, we can continue this discussion later"

The Illusive Man didn't say as he poured himself another glass and took a sip of it before saying anything "I do believe your right. we can discuss business later. but before you go, share the security feed. I want to see what mess you're dealing with exactly"

"But sir, I don't believe you should be involved in trivial matters such as this. Don't you have other things of much importance?"

"I dictate what is worthy of my time Dr. Parnel. You would do better to remember that. It was I who invested the time, money, and resources into Project Evolution. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be having this discussion, would we? So I suggest you keep that mouth of your shut and share the security feed. Unless you want to end up in the same situation as Dr. Everstean?

The Director didn't say anything else "Yes sir.....Sharing the security feed now"

Soon the connection between them was cut, and in its place was a security feed. Gunshots could be seen and heard as multiple Cerberus troops quickly took cover behind a set of crates. protecting themselves from the rain of fire that was trying to kill them.

"RETREAT! WE HAVE TO HAVE PULL BACK. WE'RE LOSING TOO MUCH GROU-GAHHH!"

"SHIT HE'S DEAD!"

"HE'S JUST ONE MAN! HOW DO WE KEEP LOSING MEN TO ONE PERSON!? HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!?"

'Thud, thud, thud, thud!"

Out of nowhere, you could hear the sound of somebody running, as out of the corner of the hallway, a man who was wearing a full set of Cerberus Ajax armor was sprinting down towards the troops!

"THERE HE IS! OPEN FIRE!" one of the Cerberus troops yelled as everybody went out of cover and proceed to fire a rain of bullets down the hallway! trying to stop the man right in his tracks.

But instead of turning into mincemeat due to the volley of bullets, the man seemingly covered his whole body in a purplish layer as the bullets that landed onto his body just fell onto the floor.

Then the man in full Ajax armor made close contact as volleyed over a set of crates and with a swift motion, kicked the trooper right in the chest, sending him falling down onto the ground.

"CRAP!" one of the guards yelled out panic as he proceeded to shoot the man Ajex armor where he was standing.

But before he got shot, the man and Ajex armor barreled rolled out of the way as he avoided to spray of bullets heading his way. He then proceeded to grapple one of the guards as he used them as a human shield, protecting himself, as the Cerberus agent took all the bullets.

The Man in Ajax Armor took this chance to rush the other Cerberus guard, still using the main one as a human bulwark. Once he got close he kicked the poor human behind his back. Sending him tumbling down unto his teammate.

His hand then was covered in a purplish glow as he used his biotics to send them flying into a nearby wall. Killing them instantly under the great weight of the mass effect fields.

He looked to his left to see more Cerberus agents running his way. He lifted his hand as his hand glowed purplish one more. Suddenly both were stripped off their feet as they suddenly were flooring in the air. With pinpoint accuracy, The man used his Cerberus Harrier to shoot them right at their heads before they fell right onto the floor. Dead.

He reached behind his back and pulled out an M-25 Hornet as he turned his head to see the previous Cerberus guard he had knocked over. He turned around and slowly walked to him as he raised up his gun.

"Please! please don't kill m-"

"BANG!"

The Cerberus agent couldn't say anymore as before he could finish what he was saying, a large bang sound could be heard followed by a thud hitting the ground.

Nothing but silence could be heard as the dead Cerberus agents were scattered around the hallway. He placed his hands on his helmet as he took it off. Revealing his short brown hair and eyes. He took a deep breath not minding the smell of blood that was in the air.

It was non-other than the clone gone rouge, Subject 1183.

As he was about to put back his helmet and continue on with whatever objective he had in mind, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a security camera directly looking right at him.

Not wanting more attention than he already has, he pulled back his M-25 Hornet and proceed to shoot the thing. destroying the camera and instantly cutting off the security feed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ZZZZZ!"

The Illusive Man, who finished the last bit of his drink, continued watching as the sound of only static could be seen or heard coming from the screen. You couldn't tell what was going on inside that mind of his.

He placed his drink down unto the side. Certain what to do next "Project Evolution...Nothing more than failure that came back to bite us. Still, I do we might have use for him. We can salvage this"

He tilted his slight to the left so he could behind him " See to it that this situation gets resolved. It shouldn't take you long to get there from here"

"This won't take long. What can one man do against a legion of soldiers?" The girl in white responded as she turned and began walking away. With her new objective in her sights.

"Oh, Miranda do be careful now. I highly advise you don't underestimate him just because he's a clone of a real thing. He was genetically engineered to be a specimen of human perfection. He reminds me of somebody I know"

She took one more step before stoping "My reflexes, my strength, even my looks -- they're all designed to give me an edge. He was designed to be expendable"

"I won't lose to somebody like him"